Splitting machine



3 o. A. HAWKINS SPLITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 1, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Attorney NOV. 3, 1936. Q, HAWKINS 2,059,790

SPLITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 1, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 3, 1936. o;A. HAWKINS SPLITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 1, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inve'ntor Patented Nov. 3, 1936 UNITED S'i'A'iEg earner GFFICEApplication August 1,

10 Claims.

My invention relates generally to apparatus for splitting andlongitudinally dividing objects of relatively small cross section, andparticularly to a device for accurately and cleanly longitudinallysplitting yucca blades, reeds, and the like, and an important object ofthe invention is to provide apparatus of the character described whichis relatively simple and inexpensive yet extraordinarily efficient.

Another important object of my invention is to provide apparatus of thecharacter indicated above which is capable of quantity production at arelatively low cost for power and labor.

Another important object of my invention is to provide in apparatus ofthe character indicated above means for accurately and uniformly feedingthe yucca blades to the cutters and away from the cutters, so that theyucca blades both before and after splitting occupy relatively the samepositions and are positively prevented from being unduly twisted orotherwise displaced and mutilated.

Another important object of my invention is to provide in apparatus ofthe character indicated above semi-automatic means for feeding the yuccablades to the cutters.

Another important object of my invention is to provide adjustable meansfor keeping the cutters clean and for holding the yucca bladesaccurately in relation to the cutters during the cutting operation.

Another important object of my invention is to provide cutter meanswhich accurately and cleanly split the yucca blades into predeterminedsections.

Other important objects of my invention will be apparent from a readingof the following description in connection with the drawings, whereinfor purposes of illustration I have shown a preferred embodiment of myinvention.

In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a general top plan view of apparatus in accordance with theinvention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational View thereof look ing upwardly in Figure1.

Figure 3 is an elevational view of a portion of the opposite side.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken through Figure1 approximately on the line i l.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional View through the adjustable guideassembly.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through one end of thecutter assembly.

Figure 7 is an elevational view showing the 1935, Serial No. 34,291

operative connections between the feeding rollers.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the oscillating distributor.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of one of the guide fingers.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of one of the guide finger spacers.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of one of the cleaner plates.

Figure 12 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through one of thefeeding rollers.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 refers generally to asuitable stand which includes legs 6 and a top 1 including thelongitudinal top members 8 and 9.

Intermediate the ends of the side members 8 and 9 rise the verticalbrackets Ill and ll between the upper ends of which is fixed the feedinghopper E? which includes the vertical wall it, the angulated bottom l4and the sides l5 and I6.

Duplicates of the sides 15 and it which are generally designated ll arearranged across the bottom M to provide chutes for guiding the yuccablades and the like and properly disposing the same upon reception intothe hopper. The bottom I4 is cut away as indicated at l8 and in theopening is located the oscillating plate or distributor M which isformed with longitudinally spaced rectangular openings 20 correspondingin number to the chutes and disposed in registry therewith as shown inFigure 1. The oscillating plate l9 has journal pins or stub shafts 2|and 22 at its opposite ends as shown in Figure 8 and the lower pin 22(Figure 1) has fixed thereon the segmental crank 23 which has a crankpin 24 with which is engaged the upper end of a connecting rod 25 whoseopposite end is connected eccentrically as indicated at 26 to a disk 21!fixed on the shaft 28 which is journaled in the uprights iii and ii andhas thereon a pulley 29 operatively connected by a belt 3i] to a pulley3! on the shaft 32 on which is the cutter assembly which is. generallydesignated 33, whereby the plate i9 is caused to angularly oscillate upand down so as to alternately enlarge and reduce the apertures presentedfor reception of the yucca blades in the chutes in the hopper.

Brackets 34 extending from the uprights l0 and i i in a. left handdirection journal the opposite ends of the upper feeding roller 35 whichis a cylinder 35 formed on its surface with projecting small pins Mwhich dig into the yucca blades or the like so as to gain a goodtraction or pull thereon for pulling the blades out of the chutes of thehopper, while the blades are somewhat bent or contorted in a downwarddirection as they come through the opening l8 and the openings 28 in theoscillating plate !9. A similarly mounted lower feeding roller 38 belowand to the right of the roller 35 engages the underside of the yuccablades while the roller 35 engages the upper side thereof in cooperativeaction. On the end of the shaft 28 opposite the pulley 29 is a smallpulley 39 which has a belt 40 trained thereover and also on a pulley 4|on one end of the roller 35, whereby the roller 35 is driven in theproper direction. A reversing belt 42 trained over the pulley 4| andalso over a pulley 43 on the lower roller 38 operates the roller 38 inan opposite direction at a slower speed than the roller 35.

Feeding tubes 44, one for each of the chutes, are downwardly angulatedas indicated in Fig ure 4, and have their upper ends directly below andin receiving relation to the feeding rollers 35 and 38 and have theirlower ends cut oii at an angle close to the cutter assembly 33 forfeeding the allocated yucca blades through the cutters corresponding tothe individual tubes.

The cutter assembly shaft 32 is journaled in bearings 45 and 46 on therespective side mei bers 8 and 9 of the supporting frame. A pulley 41 atone end of this shaft is arranged for the. application of suitable powerfor driving the machine, while a smaller pulley 3| fixed on the oppositeend of this shaft has the already de scribed belt 3!! trained thereoverfor driving the feeding rollers and the oscillating plate abovedescribed.

The cutter assembly consists of the shaft 32 which is plain and smoothand has thereon the circular knife cutters 50 which are in circular diskform with sharpened edges 5|, the spacers 52, the reduced threaded endportion 53 on which is the lock nut 54 which looks the knives andspacers in their selected positions, and the smooth portions 55 on theopposite ends of the shaft which turn in the bearings 45 and 46 andfixedly support the pulleys 3| and 41. The knives 5B are arranged ingroups of five with an extra spacer 52 between groups as indicated inFigure 1, the groups corresponding to the tubes 44 so as tobe in cuttingrelation to the yucca blades as they issue from the corresponding tubes.Desired re-arrangements of the groupings of the knives may be readilymade by loosening the nuts 54 on the opposite ends or at only one end ofthe cutter assembly and then re-arranging the spacers 52 and tighteningthe nuts 54 again. It is obvious that the number of knives in the groupsmay be changed at will.

A generally similar arrangement of operative elements and spacers isprovided for the guide finger assembly which is generally designated 55and which contains the square shaft 56 with the reduced threaded ends 51and 58 on which are arranged the clamping nuts 59 and 80. Outward of thethreaded portions are smooth portions 6| and 62 which turn in thesupports it and H and outwardly of these smooth portions are furtherreduced threaded portions 62 and 63 on which are threaded the adjustinglevers 64 and 65 which are clamped in place by nuts 66 and 61.

The levers are arranged on pivots 58 and 69 which traverse the supportsIll and II and are locked in place by nuts 1'0 and M. It will be obviousthat by swinging the levers 64 and 65 up and down the relation of thegroups of guide fingers 72 to the lower edges of the correspondinggroups of cutter blades can be changed, and that further angular changesmay be arranged by loosening the nuts 66 and 6'1 and turning the shaftrelative to the levers. The shaft 56 is square in cross section and theelongated fingers 12 have square openings '53 receiving the shaft andthe washers M have correspondingly squared openings 15 so that thefingers cannot turn on the square shaft and the proper grouping andspacing of the fingers is produced. In the embodiment shown four fingers72 for each group of five cutter blades is provided, the fingers beinglocated between the blades and within the outer ones of each group.

It is obvious that the yucca blades upon issuing from the tubes 44 arepushed downwardly by the clockwise rotating knives and that they areprevented from falling out of relation to the knives by the presence ofthe extremities of the fingers 72 between the cutting edges of theblades as indicated in Figures 1 and 4 and that the yucca blades arethereby properly positioned and held relative to the knives so as to beaccurately and cleanly cut for their full length and delivered in properposition to the receiving tray 15 which is supported between the lefthand legs 6 and extends in a left hand direction beyond the support 5and empties into a receiving hopper it which is supported on a bracketll connected to the legs 5, so that the split blades fall into thehopper in an orderly manner and stack up therein without requiringre-arrangement, so that the split blades may be easily removed from thehopper in proper position for further manufacturing operations.

For keeping the cutting edges of the various groups of blades clean andunencumbered, there is provided a cleaner assembly which is generallydesignated 78. This assembly includes the uprights 79 and 35 which aremounted on the frame support side members 3 and 9 to the left of thebearings 45 and 46. Each upright has pivoted thereto as indicated at 8iand 82 at the inner side thereof a hand lever 83, 84 through one end ofwhich is mounted the square shaft 85 on which is disposed a. number ofgroups of cleaner plates 85 provided with square holes 81 receiving thesquare shaft 85. The cleaner plates 86 are aligned with the levers 83and 84 and when the levers are swung on their pivots the cleaner platesare moved toward or away from the sides of the cutter assembly 33.Square washers similar to those shown in Figure 10 are used to space thecleaner plates 85 on the shaft 85 in groups of four to be aligned withthe guide fingers '12. The groups of cleaner plates are arranged tocorrespond with the described groups of cutter knives and yucca bladefeeding tubes 44. By positioning the free ends of the cutter blades asshown in Figure 4, accumulations on the cutting edges of the blades areshorn ofi" and prevented from reducing the cutting efiiciency of theblades.

Although I have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is to be definitely understood that I do not desire tolimit the application of the invention thereto, and any change orchanges may be made in the materials and in the structure andarrangement of the parts, within the spirit of the invention and thescope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A yucca blade splitting machine comprising a chute, a plurality ofrotary cutting knives, a

guiding and allocating tube in receiving relation to said chute and infeeding relation to some of said knives, positive feeding rollersinterposed between the chute and the tube for forcing the yucca bladesinto position in the tube and into engagement with the knives, andadjustable guide fingers extending beyond the delivery end of the guidetube and disposed between adjacent onesof the knives for causing theyucca blades to engage the edges of the knives in a predeterminedmanner.

2. A yucca blade splitting machine comprising a chute, a plurality ofrotary cutting knives, a guide and allocating tube in receiving relationto said chute and in feeding relation to some of said knives, positivefeeding .rollers interposed between the chute and the tube for forcingthe yucca blades into. position in the tube and into engagement with theknives, and adjustable guide fingers disposed beyond the delivery end ofthe guide tube and between adjacent ones of the knives for causing theyucca blades to engage the knives in a predetermined manner, and knifecleaning means preventing accumulation of matter on the knives.

3. A yucca blade splitting machine comprising a chute, a plurality ofrotary cutting knives, a guide and allocating tube in receiving relationto said chute and in feeding relation to some of said knives, positivefeeding rollers interposed between the chute and the tube for forcingthe yucca blades into position in the tube and into engagement with theknives, oscillating apertured allocating means located between saidrollers and said chute for allocating and feeding the yucca blades insaid chute to the correspending tube and knives.

l. A yucca blade splitting machine comprising a chute, a plurality ofrotary cutting knives, a guide and allocating tube in receiving relationto said chute and in feeding relation to some of said knives, positivefeeding rollers interposed between the chute and the tube for forcingthe yucca blades into position in the tube and into engagement. with theknives, said knives comprising a cutter assembly containing a shaft, aplurality of disk knives thereon, a plurality of washers slidable on theshaft and located between the disks, and means longitudinally mo-vabieon opposite ends of the shaft for clamping the knives and washerstogether in selected relation.

5. A machine for longitudinally splitting yucca blades, said machinecomprising first means for holding and feeding the yucca blades, conduitmeans into which the blades are selectively fed from said first means,rotary cutters against the edges of which said blades are adapted to bepressed for longitudinally splitting the blades, and second meanslocated between said first means and said conduit means for admittingonly a selected number of the blades from said first means into saidconduit means, said second means acting to intermittently admit theblades into said conduit means, and opposed rollers interposed betweensaid second means and said conduit means for forcibly positioning theadmitted blades in said conduit means and against the cutting edges ofthe rotary cutters.

6. A machine for longitudinally splitting yucca blades, said machinecomprising first means for holding and feeding the yucca blades, conduitmeans into which the blades are selectively fed from said first means,rotary cutters adjacent the conduit means for longitudinally splittingthe blades as they are discharged from the conduit,

and second means located between said first means and said conduit meansfor admitting only a selected number of the blades from said first meansinto said conduit means, said second means acting to intermittentlyadmit the blades into said conduit means, said second means comprising aplate mounted for oscillation on a longitudinal axis thereof, said platebeing formed with an aperture adapted to substantially register withsaid conduit means in one position of said plate so as topermit apredetermined number of yucca blades to pass from said first means intosaid conduit means, said plate being arranged to occupy another positionat another time wherein said aperture is out of registry with saidconduit means whereby yucca blades in said first means are positivelyprevented from passing from said first means into said conduit means.

7. A machine for longitudinally splitting yucca blades, said machinecomprising a hopper including individual declining chutes, a battery ofdeclining guide tubes having their receiving ends aligned with the lowerends of said chutes, a battery of rotary knives adjacent the lower endsof said guide tubes, an oscillating plate supported on a longitudinalaxis thereof and interposed between the lower ends of said chutes andthe upper ends of said guide tubes, said plate being formed withindividual apertures, said apertures being arranged to register with thecorresponding chutes and guide tubes in one position thereof so as topermit a predetermined number of yucca blades to discharge from eachchute into the corresponding guide tube, said apertures in anotherposition of said plate being out of registry with the correspondingchutes and guide tubes so as to prevent any yucca blades from passingfrom the chutes into the guide tubes, said guide tubes being arranged toguide the yucca blades into engagement with the rotary knives.

8. A machine for longitudinally splitting yucca blades, said machinecomprising a hopper including individual declining chutes, a battery ofdeclining guide tubes having their receiving ends aligned with the lowerends of said chutes, a battery of rotary knives adjacent the lower endsof said guide tubes, an oscillating plate supported on a longitudinalaxis thereof and interposed between the lower ends of said chutes andthe upper ends of said guide tubes, said plate being formed withindividual apertures, said apertures being arranged to register with thecorresponding chutes and guide-tubes in one position thereof so as topermit a predetermined number of yucca blades to discharge from eachchute into the corresponding guide tube, said apertures in anotherposition of said plate being out of registry with the correspondingchutes and guide tubes so as to prevent any yucca blades from passingfrom the chutes into the guide tubes, said guide tubes being arranged toguide the yucca blades into engagement with the rotary knives, andopposed rollers supported intermediate said oscillating plate and theupper ends of said guide tubes and acting to forcibly position the yuccablades in the guide tubes and into engagement with said rotary knives.

9. A machine for longitudinally splitting yucca blades, said machinecomprising a hopper including individual declining chutes, a battery ofdeclining guide tubes having their receiving ends aligned with the lowerends of said chutes, a battery of rotary knives adjacent the lower endsof said guide tubes, an oscillating plate supported on a longitudinalaxis thereof and interposed between the lower ends of said chutes andthe upper ends of said guide tubes, said plate being formed withindividual apertures, said apertures being arranged to register with thecorresponding chutes and guide tubes in one position thereof so as topermit a predetermined number of yucca blades to discharge from eachchute into the corresponding guide tube, said apertures in anotherposition of said plate being out of registry with the correspondingchutes and guide tubes so as to prevent any yucca blades from passingfrom the chutes into the guide tubes, said guide tubes being arranged toguide the yucca blades into engagement with the rotary knives, andadjustable yucca blade supporting fingers arranged along said rotaryknives for supporting the yucca blades relative to said rotary knives asthe yucca blades issue from said guide tubes.

10. A machine for longitudinally splitting yucca blades, said machinecomprising first means for holding and feeding the yucca blades, conduitmeans into which the blades are selectively fed from said first means,rotary cutters adjacent the conduit means for longitudinally splittingthe blades as they are discharged from the conduit, and second meanslocated between said first means and said conduit means for admittingonly a selected number of the blades from said first means into saidconduit means, said rotary cutter comprising a rotary shaft having asquared portion intermediate its ends, cutter disks having squaredopenings disposed on said squared portion, spacers between the disks,said shaft having threaded portions containing nuts clamping said disksand spacers together on said shaft.

ORLIE A. HAWKINS.

